Friday, August 13, 2010

Highest selling manga



I'm sure everyone will be wondering what the highest selling mangas are. Sometimes, when you don't have anything to read, be sure to try these best selling mangas out.

First, I will list the highest selling mangas by demographic target and then overall. Only the highest selling fifteen titles are listed in each category.
I do not own any of these datas and stats. They have been compiled from various internet sites.

Many of these lists are old an inaccurate so be sure to read my comments below the list.

Highest selling manga of all time, genres and demographic targets-


More than 160 million -One Piece (shonen)
More than 100 million -Astro Boy (kodomo)
Around 150 milliuon -Dragon Ball (shonen)
120 million -Slam Dunk (shonen)
Over 100 million -Black Jack (seinen)
Over 110 million -Doraemon (kodomo)
Over 100 million -Touch (doubtful)(shonen)
Over 100 million -Fist of the North Star (seinen)
Over 120 million -Detective Conan (shonen)
Over 140 million -Kochikame (shonen)
Over 110 million -Golgo 13 (seinen)
Over 110 million -Oishinbo (general/seinen)

- comipress


Naruto has been included in this list by surpassing 100 million sales.
Detective conan has also made to this list.


Most of the highest selling mangas as you can clearly see are shonen mangas. There are a few seinen mangas in there and one or two children mangas. Don't women read comics?
You must have probably heard of these mangas. They are household names. Doraemon, DBZ, One Piece, Slam Dunk, Detective Conan, NARUTO and Astro boy are popular among boys. Kochikame and Golgo 13 have been running forever and have been read for generations. Kochikame is one of my favourites because it is so hillarious but unfortunately has not been licensed. It is the longest running manga of all time. Golgo 13 and Doraemon missed the top position. Oishinbo is a coooking manga and Black Jack is a medical manga by the legendary Osamu Tezuka.

Highest selling shoujo manga





Copies sold Manga name
54,000,000 Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) [complete]
50,000,000 Glass no Kamen (Glass Mask)
36,000,000 Ouke no Monshou
34,500,000 Nana
31,030,000 Chibi Maruko-chan
28,000,000 Tokimeki Tonight [complete]
26,500,000 Asari-chan
22,900,000 Yuukan Kurabu
22,000,000 Patalliro!
21,600,000 Doubutsu no Oishasan [complete]
17,700,000 Akachan to Boku (Baby & Me) [complete]
16,000,000 Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori (Red River) [complete]
15,600,000 Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte (Please Save My Earth) [complete]
15,000,000 Berusaiyu no Bara (The Rose of Versailles) [complete]
15,000,000 Ace wo Nerae! [complete]

-comipress.com

Hana Yori Dango is my favourite shoujo manga so I think it deserves the #1 spot. It has been adapted into successful dramas in many countries and an anime. It has over 36 volumes are is considerably long. Glass no Kamen has been running for a long time. NANA is one of the most popular ongoing mangas. Japanese are crazy about NANA. A NANA credit card was made a while ago. Many argue it fits into josei and not shoujo but since it runs in a shoujo magazine, it is categorised as shoujo. Chibi Maruko chan is an amusing slice of life manga. Others like Rose of versailles, Red river, baby and me, Please save my earth, Ace wo nerae are shoujo classics. Itazura na kiss, another classic has sold around 13 million and missed this list by a whisker.

Shonen-

Kochikame (1-151) 135,000,000
One Piece (1-45) 130,000,000
Naruto (1-36) 71,000,000
Bleach (1-27) 39,000,000
The Prince of Tennis (1-35) 37,000,000
Hunter X Hunter (1-20) 36,958,000
Gintama (1-17) 16,000,000
Eyeshield 21 (1-19) 12,30,000
D.Gray-man (1-10) 8,000,000
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (1-14) 7,000,000
Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar (1-11) 5,500,000
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (1-15) 4,875,000
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (1-6)

-comipress


*All numbers are from sales in Japan only (counting sales in other countries, Dragon Ball would be 300,000,000+, Fist of the North Star would be 100,000,000+, and so on)


These figures are very old. Detective conan has made it to this list. Prince of Tennis has sold over 42 million. One Piece has surpassed Kochikame in sales. Slam Dunk and Dragon Ball have sold 120 mill. and 150 mill. respectively and rank above Kochikame. Bleach too has sold over 50 million and ranks above most manga here. This list is outdated and mostly inaccurate. This is just the base information.
Inuyasha has also sold over 32 milion.

One Piece in 2010, was named the highest selling manga of all time with sales over 160 million.

Most of these mangas are classics and are probably included in the highest selling mangas of all time list.
As for mangas like Bleach and Prince of Tennis that are not included in that list, they are good and worth a try. I think Hajime no Ippo is in this list too but not sure.

Seinen



1 Golgo 13 1 - 86 59,000,000
2 Oishinbo 1 - 38 57,000,000
3 YAWARA! 1 - 26 32,000,000
3 Be Bop High School 1 - 21 32,000,000
5 The Silent Service 1 - 17 15,000,000
6 Kachou Shima Kousaku 1 - 17 13,000,000
6 3 x 3 Eyes 1 - 13 13,000,000
8 Crayon Shinchan 1 - 5 9,000,000
8 Shonen Ashibe 1 - 6 5.000,000
10 AKIRA 1 - 6 3,900,000

Golgo 13 is an endless manga and a seinen classic. Oishinbo is also endless and a famous manga. YAWARA! is by the famous Naoki Urasawa who also wrote Monster and 21st century boys.
This list is again, outdated and a few mangas are not included. Crayon Shin Chan is a legendary slice of life seinen. It is like the seinen version of chibi maruko chan. It has been a popular comedy. AKIRA is again legendary but short. Be bop high school has also been running for a long time. The popular seinen Black Jack has been excluded from this list. It has sold over 100 million and is one of the legendary manga. Monster should also have been included here. Maison Ikkoku will probably be included here since it has sold over 32 million copies. Ranma too has sold around 80 million and should be included in at least one of these lists.



Sorry, but there is no list for josei. I couldn't find it anywhere. Gokusen and Nodame Cantabile are two of the popular joseis. NANA is also considered josei by some and if it is really a josei then, it is the highest selling josei.
Josei mangas are among the least selling demographic targets. Office going women don't read much manga.




Manga that did not make it to any list but deserved to be there according to sales-

Maison Ikkoku- seinen- 32 mill.
Ranma 1/2- shonen- More than 50 mill.
Inuyasha- shonen- over 32 mill.
I am surprised how Rumiko Takahashi's works were excluded.
Sazae san- General- Over 60 mill.
Sazae san was one of the earliest mangas and was credited for promoting feminism.
Yu yu Hakusho- shonen- Around 40 million
This is another shonen classic.

So, that's all. Next time you want to try a new manga, I hope this list will help you. Be sure to read all the highest selling manga. They are really worth the try.

2 comments:

  1. I have readen about the existence of an update ranking on Japananese language Wikipedia.
    Can you give me the correct link?

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is an official list of best-selling Shueisha manga: http://mangable.com/forums/general-manga/639-top-50-best-selling-manga-of-all-time.html

    ReplyDelete